Ibrar Nadeem, a close aide to Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciatarelli, boasted to Muslim supporters about the candidate’s past opposition to marriage equality at a “Muslims 4 Jack” event in Piscataway, New Jersey, on October 18.
“We want to ban same-sex marriage,” Nadeem said, as recorded in a video posted on X.
Nadeem continued: Note Ciattarelli voted against legalizing marriage equality as a New Jersey state legislator and insisted his preferred candidate would continue to oppose it.
He ended his speech with the words, “Vote for Jack.” “Every time I got tired and people in the community criticized me, someone would say, ‘You’re extorting money from Jews,'” he added. I check my bank account every day, brother. It’s not there. ”
Ciattarelli took the stage and joked, “Dr. Ibral Nadeem, just once, I want you to say exactly what I think.”
Same-sex marriage has been legal in New Jersey since 2013. The previous year, the Democratic-led General Assembly passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, which Ciatarelli voted against, but the governor at the time passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Republican Chris Christie vetoed the bill, saying voters should decide the issue in a referendum.
The state Legislature then enacted marriage equality into state law, allowing same-sex couples to continue marrying even if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a landmark 2015 decision striking down the same-sex marriage ban.
Ciatarelli’s Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, accused the Republican candidate of failing to condemn Nadeem’s comments on same-sex marriage and of endorsing anti-Semitic tropes that suggest Jews use their wealth to influence politics.
“Members of Jack’s ‘inner circle’ caught on video spreading anti-Semitic and homophobic hatred” Cheryl I wrote to X. “Rather than criticize Jack for his language, he praised him. This type of behavior should not be tolerated in New Jersey.”
Ciattarelli responded by claiming that the clip, especially the part about “taking money from Jews,” was taken out of context.
“@MikieSherrill Do you ever get tired of being lied to?” Ciattarelli I wrote to X. “You know I support same-sex marriage…your desperate lies will backfire,” he continued. “Shame on you for trying to further divide people with yet another lie.”
Although Ciattarelli currently claims to support same-sex marriage, he has repeatedly leaned into anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in both his 2021 campaign and this year’s campaign.
In 2021, Ciattarelli slammed a 2019 law requiring public schools to teach about the political, economic and social contributions of LGBTQ people, claiming the law teaches “sodomy in the sixth grade” and vowing to repeal it if elected. The current election campaign has aired ads attacking Mr. Sherrill’s support for the law, calling it an overreach by the government on parental rights.
In August, Ciattarelli spoke at a Jersey City rally sponsored by the anti-LGBTQ group Moms for Liberty and criticized the New Jersey State Board of Education. policy This would allow schools to change a student’s gender identity on official records without notifying parents. He also called for transgender athletes to be banned from competing on women’s sports teams.
Ciattarelli voted as a congressman. against A bill that would allow transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificate without undergoing gender reassignment surgery. The bill, supported by Democrats, was later vetoed by the governor at the time. Chris Christie.
Human Rights Campaign — its political arm approved Recognizing his pro-LGBTQ record, Sherrill called on Ciatarelli to join the New Jersey Democratic State Committee in condemning Nadeem’s comments.
“It is shocking that Jack Ciattarelli proudly endorsed a senior campaign adviser who said to his face that if elected governor of New Jersey, he would work to reverse marriage equality in the state,” Reg Calcagno, HRC’s director of national campaigns, said in a statement. “But that’s not surprising. This is the kind of person Jack has always been, having previously voted against same-sex marriage in New Jersey and following MAGA’s lead on anti-LGBTQ+ views.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
